Laurent Robert believes Newcastle have gone backwards since last season's UEFA Cup semi-final. Robert feels that the current team are not playing as well as they did last season. "Are we better this year than last year? No, I don't think so," he said. "Are we the same? No, probably worse. "I don't think we are playing as well this season as last. We have not played well in the last three games. We have been very, very bad. We were awful against Aston Villa and we lost at Tottenham, and we were not playing good football. "It is difficult to explain why we are playing so badly, but we have to get out of it quickly. Sporting are not as good as Marseille, they do not play such good football, but like last year we are getting injuries and suspensions at the wrong time." Robert's comments will do little to endear him to Souness, although that battle could already have been lost, with the Frenchman's hopes of winning a new contract at the end of next season looking more remote by the week. "It is difficult for me at the moment," he admitted. "In the last three games I have been taken off after 55 or 60 minutes and I don't like that, and I don't like it when the team play bad football. "I have not been happy when I have been brought off, I think everyone has seen that. It is very depressing. "There is no communication and the manager does not speak to me face-to-face to tell me why he keeps taking me off. He does not tell me when I am playing well and he does not tell me when I am playing badly, and neither does his staff."

I agree with everything that Robert has said, his timing was way out. And our managers reply was:

"Once again, we have had to take our eyes off the ball because of the selfish attitude of one of our own players," he said. "We have been sidetracked by a selfish player at a time when this club is playing its two most important games for 35 years, and that is totally unacceptable, not only for the management team of Newcastle United and its players, but also the supporters. "These two games are not about Laurent Robert, they are not about Alan Shearer or Graeme Souness either, they are about the cause, and that cause is Newcastle United." Turning to Robert's most recent contributions on the pitch and particularly in the 1-0 defeat at Tottenham on Sunday, Souness added: "When Laurent Robert plays like that, he always seems to blame someone else. I mean, was it my fault he played so poorly at Spurs? "What Laurent Robert has to do is to look at himself first and if he is not playing well, he should try harder." Robert was unlikely to start tonight's game anyway, but his comments make his absence a racing certainty and have seemingly scotched any lingering hopes he had of winning a new contract when his current deal expires at the end of next season. Souness has admitted in the past that he enjoys a love-hate relationship with the former Paris St Germain star, although the balance appears to have tilted heavily in one direction once again. The Frenchman's outspoken attack came after he was asked how the team going into tonight's game compared to the one which lost to Marseille at the semi-final stage last season. "Are we better this year than last year? No, I don't think so," he said. "Are we the same? No, probably worse. "I don't think we are playing as well this season as last. We have not played well in the last three games. We have been very, very bad. We were awful against Aston Villa and we lost at Tottenham and we were not good playing football. "It is difficult to explain why we are playing so badly, but we have to get out of it quickly."

Hold on Mr Souness, you're commenting in Portugal about something that has been printed back in England. Wouldn't it have been better to shut your mouth and wait until after the game Mr Souness?

More quotes from Robert

"A lot has happened here and everything has been turbulent," Robert revealed. "I didn't get to play in the second leg of the Uefa Cup tie, and there was no reason why. "People say I criticised the club before that game but that was not true. I set up Alan Shearer to score the goal in our 1-0 first leg win against Sporting. "We set off to win our way through in Portugal but instead lost 4-1. I did not play and it was a real disappointment. We alternate good performances with bad ones, when we had good ones I was in the team and we were winning."

Robert landed himself back in Sir Bobby Robson's bad books after a petulant reaction to being hauled off in the 3-0 UEFA Cup victory in Mallorca. Robert, who Sir Bobby says has given him more trouble than any other player in over 35 years in management, was replaced by Hugo Viana. An unhappy Robert refused to shake Sir Bobbys hand when he came off and they appeared to exchange heated words in the dug-out. Robson said: "He didn't like being taken off and I didn't like his performance - that's why I took him off. "If he doesn't like it, he can lump it. I put people on and I take people off and that's my job."

This is just a guess but we may not have too much to report on Robert as this season comes to an end, it's probably his last at the club.

Awaiting another outburst.